Redundancy or a new Parish ?The ecclesiastical politics of the day remain shrouded in the mists of time, and perhaps that is as well. Two Bishop's Commissions enquired into the state of things in Colwick during those early years. The first enquiry decided that no new parish arrangements were necessary. Those people who remained in the (very large) area of the original parish lived well away from the old church - very close in fact to the churches of their neighbouring parishes, where they could easily be accommodated. But the people were not happy, perhaps because of feeling about the religious tradition of the other churches available to them (St. George's Netherfield e.g., was and remains staunchly Anglo-Catholic) and only a few years later a second enquiry in response to their pleas reversed the decision, proposing a new parish and church to serve the remaining inhabited areas of the old one - north of the ancient church in the valley, and the growing population on the hill above. A new church was duly planned, to serve most of the area of old Colwick, to be known in honour of the church it replaced as "St. John the Baptist, Colwick-in-the-Vale". |